The host country was eliminated from the Olympic hockey tournament on Wednesday, losing 3-1 to Finland in the quarterfinals. Given Russia's flawed roster and lackluster play, the outcome isn't nearly an upset. It is, however, a disaster — gold in hockey was more important than anything else, according to Vladimir Putin himself. Russia won't get a chance at bronze.

Juhamatti Aaltonen, Teemu Selanne and Mikael Granlund scored the goals for Finland, and Tuukka Rask made 37 saves. Ilya Kovalchuk put Russia up 1-0 with a first-period power-play goal, but they never led again.

That certainly wasn't without effort; Russia dominated the shot count and puck possession over the last two periods, but the goals didn't come. Now, players like Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin — NHL superstars and Russian icons, both — are going to take heat. Ovechkin will, particularly — and he knew coming into the Games that it was a possibility.

Same goes for coach Zinetula Bilyaletdino, who didn't start a Vezina winner coming off a shootout in Sergei Bobrovsky. Semyon Varlamov started the game and allowed all three goals; Aaltonen's appeared to go through his chest, and Granlund's wasn't much better.

Same goes for a mediocre group of defensemen. Aaltonen undressed Nikita Nikitin on his goal. on Granlund cooked Slava Voynov to set up Selanne's. Alexei Emelin took a foolish penalty that led to Granlund's goal.

There's lots of blame to go around, and go around it will.

"We all, and I personally, wish you luck," Putin told the Canadian athletes last week. "Of course, maybe not at all of the hockey matches.”

That actually turned out to be unnecessary; Russia and Canada never played.

The Finns, meanwhile, shouldn't have surprised anyone. Still, they managed without Valtteri Filppula, Mikku Koivu and Aleksander Barkov, who was hurt during the tournament. Those were their three top centers.

Their team is largely made up of veterans who have played together for years and guys in their early 20s, and everyone buys into their system. Rask, the star goalie for the Boston Bruins, doesn't hurt. Mix it together, and you've got a team that will face Sweden in the semifinals on Friday.